The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating a shooting incident that left an adult male dead in a section of Newark's South Ward late Thursday night.
The horrifying event happened in a residential community near 489 South 19th Street just before 11:15 p.m.
Newark Police responded to multiple reports of shots fired that rang out in the neighborhood, and when police arrived at the scene, officers found the lifeless body of a man who was around 31 years old.
Residents on South 19th Street said they heard a loud commotion, which indicated a robbery, then gunfire erupted.
"When I ran to look out the window, I saw the victim lying on the ground bleeding heavily," a South 19th Street resident said.
The community identified the victim as Mr. Devonn Smith.
While the investigation is still active and ongoing, authorities believe Smith was asleep in a car when the suspect approached the vehicle, knocked on the window and told Smith to exit at gunpoint.
According to reports, a female passenger was also in the car but did not suffer injuries.
The victim was reportedly beaten and then shot multiple times in his head at that location.
Police say the assailant ran from the scene and remained at large.
Smith's murder is the second homicide of the week in Newark and the 10th person shot in less than 12 hours in Newark.
This includes a mass shooting style incident on Clinton Place where nine (9) individuals were struck by gunfire Thursday around 6:25 p.m.
Police announced no arrests in any of the incidents.